UTI effects, how long do they last?

Hi Scott
It is confusing. Just thinking it over here with you.
First you are told she has a UTI and then that she doesn’t? Did they run a culture? If she tested positive they should want to see which antibiotic would be most affective. If she tested negative, they usually don’t run the culture. Of course I suppose the antibiotic that was given cleared it up. Often they will start with an antibiotic while waiting for the culture results.
is she able to do the therapy in rehab? When you talk with the therapist can he show you how she has improved and explained the goals or is she actually getting worse. What does her data indicate I’m trying to ask.
And yes, people die from unchecked UTIs. And perhaps she was more vulnerable to this one due to just having the medical procefure. It does sound like a stroke. Did she see a cardio and a neurologist while in the hospital? Perhaps you could check into that. If she didn’t see a specialist, I would want that done right away.
I hope she’s better soon.

As an old retired nurse it is my feeling something has been missed.
What with hospitalists and different hospitalizations, where no one knows the patient or her history, what is a DRASTIC CHANGE gets missed.
Scott, you pegged it exactly. She was simply another old woman coming in.
Bypass is serious. The speech slurring could have been for many reasons, even from weakness or dry mouth, but the most common reason is a stroke.
Many strokes are missed. CT scans rule out BLEEDS or hemorrhagic strokes; the reason they are done, as no blood thinners can be given to someone with a bleed. Scans are good at diagnosing bleeds, less good at strokes.
Something has happened and it seems to me it happened suddenly and had a profound affect. That could mean clot to lung or brain.
I don't know how old your Mom was when she had a triple bypass. Much new literature is suggesting they should not be done past a certain age because of risk of complication without promise of benefit, and that often medications work as well. As with all articles, they change every six months. As my old Oncologist said "It's anything but an exact science". There are amazing studies out there on depression alone after bypass. Literature abounds.
I wish you the best of luck, and Mom as well. It is just my feeling something has been missed, mis-diagnosed, gone UNdiagnosed. When I was in nursing patients were still followed in hospital by their own doctors. It was a different world, and even then with the patient such a wholely KNOWN person, each entered as a mystery to be solved.
At this point knowing what happened may not mean much about recovery. That will be what it will be now moving forward. I am so sorry for this setback.

My mother suffers with chronic UTI, some very serious. She was just treated with antibiotics at home for a week and had a repeat culture and still has a UTI , she had a culture twice. Now pseudomonas infection and treating in the hospital with IV antibiotics. My mother also had a TIA prior to the UTI, Neuro said it goes along with her UTUI's sometimes. My mother gets slurred speech and stares with TIA's, but recovers within 24 hours so not a full blown stroke. My mothers UTI's cause much weakness in her upper and lower extremities , needing PT at home. It takes a toll on my mother when she has UTI's and takes a about a week to get back to baseline. Feel for you, been dealing with this for twenty years. She is so good when she does not have a UTI. My mothers 98th birthday is today, too bad she is sick in the hospital but glad she is getting treatment and I am able to stay in her room. Hope things get better for your dear mom.

Scottj,

So sorry to hear about your mom. My mother had a similar experience in the fall of 2019. My mother has a history of cancer and CHF and was getting around on her walker when suddenly one morning, she experienced: head spinning, hallucinations , slurred speech and inability to sit up and walk. She was rushed to the ER and they ruled out a stroke and cancer spread. However, she did have a UTI and was treated with antibiotics. She was sent to rehab then home with additional rehab but was never able to walk again. My mother has been bed bound since and has been under hospice care since Feb 2020 after blood clots were discovered on both of her lungs.

With the exception of mobility frustrations and occasional dementia related symptoms, mom is doing much better under hospice care.

Hope this helps and that things improve with your mom.

Hi
My dad had reoccurring UTIs
and one was antibiotic resistant.
Yes from my experience with my dad they can knock someone for a loop. Slurred speech , lack of appetite and lethargy.
I found my dad’s UTI’s accompanied
dehydration so ask about that too
My dad was totally independent up until he went into the hospital and later the facility. They seem to only look at what’s in front of them
They do seem to give up merely because someone is elderly.

To this day I feel my dad’s health issues could have been handled differently. The limited Medicare coverage seems to rule the nursing facilities.
After speaking with other families
it seems you have to fight hard for extra Medicare coverage. Most families are so knocked apart from the whole experience that they give up.

In some states now, rehab is limited to in-room only for the first 14 days of isolation due to COVID. Of course this is better than nothing but is seriously limited.

My wife was sent to rehab in June and on the 13th day, 2 employees that she had come in contact with tested positive, thus another 14 days of isolation. So 27 days of rehab limit done in-room only with little to no improvement.

She came home in early August and is now either wheelchair or bed bound.

In my experience with my mom, UTIs can be very hard on the elderly. My mom has had a few similar incidents with UTIs where she was disoriented and had to go to the hospital and then rehab. The infection had spread to her blood which really took a toll on her and her mobility. She was in the hospital for a week then had to go to rehab to regain her strength and mobility. She has bounced back somewhat—back living on her own. Since she is prone to getting UTIs, her urologist recommended a natural supplement called D-mannose that she takes every day. It is what is found in cranberries and can be purchased at amazon or other places that sell supplements and vitamins. It has helped to stop reoccurring UTIs. I’d recommend that you ask the rehab place to retest your mom for a UTI again, as they are sometimes hard to get rid of and perhaps this is impacting her ability to bounce back. Best of luck to your mom, you, and your family.

Often they never recover from delirium. This is now the new "normal". You can get her to see a neurologist but don't expect any miracles.

Cipro causes problems. Research that.

I was told my mother would but it’s 4 years now it’s like her brain had a fire and nothing has changed, she had a UTI which cleared but her mind is totally damaged. It is mind boggling! She went from a normal person of 88 to a full blow LBD now 92.

You deffiently need to take her to a Urologist and remove her from rehab.

Being miserable and depressed will make one go down hill and not even want to live.

If they caught the UTI right away and started her on antibiotics. It only takes a few days to get back to normal.

First thing bring her home !!!!

She will be Safer Happier and get Healthier...
You deffiently need to make a Dr's appointment with her Dr first, if her Insurance won't let her go to a Specialist Uroligist first.

Don't Delay.

Prayers

Get her to see a urologist and a follow-up with cardiology. Either UTI and toxic products of destroying bacteria are a problem or she is not getting good circulation to her brain which mimics a stroke. I would opt to see the cardiologist first.

This happened to our Mom and she never recovered. The docs said the UTI “had gotten into her blood stream.” She was at home when she contracted it and our brother, who was her caregiver, detected it because she became confused and incoherent but the signs, which no one in the family understood at the time, were there well before that. Education about the deleterious effects of UTI’s on the elderly is sadly lacking nor do I believe that most hospitals routinely test elderly people for this when they are admitted. We have no idea how long she had it before it was way too late to “cure” her and try to counteract the effects. I hope you have a different experience.

Mama ended up in a nursing home and went inexorably down hill for two more years and died at 101. At the last she still recognized all five of her kids but didn’t remember her husband at all, thought her parents we’re still alive, thought she still lived with them in her childhood home, got songs on her mind and sang at the top of her lungs, talked indiscreetly about sex, wheeled herself into other peoples rooms and climbed in bed with men, stole other people’s eye glasses, openly criticized the hairdos of the female staff and did a lot of other things that we have since come to think of rather humorously. Mama was the soul of Southern discretion and she was still wise enough to stay on the good side of the staff. At times she thought she was at the country club and formally introduced us to all the other out of contact people at the luncheon table. She would have hated to end the way she did, but, even so, kept her wits about her enough to one sunny day just peacefully grind to a halt.

My mother never wanted to die and we were so blessed that she accepted every stage of life with equanimity. Mama always said, “Every age has its compensations.” If your mother doesn’t recover, I suggest that you accept what has happened and find joy in all the things that made your mother what she was, understand that she is the same person, and make sure you and your siblings are at her bedside when she meets her maker. We still speak of her last days often and yet, after she died, she became younger and perfectly lucid again in our remembrance.

Is she on other meds? Sometimes when elderly people have a uti their body does not flush the meds as they should. In my mother's case it caused her to have hallucinations from the med she was on for shingles. She was also very lethargic. She has been over two months (so far) trying to recover from shingles pain. She also became very weak. We had to resort to using a walker and home health care as well.

Get on the phone right now and call the cardiologist, again. It is very important that her cardiologist knows all about this. He is the one that should be leading you the way to go with your mother.

Don't stop at nothing. Do not sit and wait. You keep going until they find your mother's problem/you get answers.

Hospitals are not always right. Sometimes you have to go to another hospital.

Also, if it were me, I would be giving my mom Cranberry juice to drink.

As an RN/NP, here is what I have observed with my 81 y.o. sister with dementia:
Every time she has required general anesthesia (Bowel Cancer and Knee surgery),
her dementia has increased within 1-2 days. No UTI's.

You do not indicate your mother’s age, but I am sure that the doctor would not have proceeded with her heart surgery if she was very old. It has been my experience that a hospital will start treatment of UTI, but also take and grow a urine culture to determine an appropriate antibiotic treatment. Nevertheless, you indicate that the UTI was later tested negative.

Your mom has experienced severe stress and trauma with heart surgery, UTI, hospitalization, and rehab. etc. Each person reacts differently to life’s health problems. While you may pursue answers, sometimes it may not be clear and definitive; especially for an older person. Your mom may get slowly somewhat better like where she was before, or she may never be the same again. You can only do the best you can to help her.

Took my 101 year old mom to the ER for a UTI. They gave a prescription for a course of antibitotics. She was quite delirious. They said when the antibitotics clear the infection, the delirium should also clear. It did not nor did the UTI, both got worse. A week later she was admitted to the hospital for a 3 day IV antibiotic treatment for the same UTI. The delirium did not clear on its own. The doctor put her on Respiridone as she was constantly talking and laughing in her delirium. It took about 2 weeks of a .5mg dose of this medicine 2x a day to start to control the delirium. Now about 8 weeks later she is starting to get back to reality her doctor reduced the dose by half. It's been a long haul. I do not know if she will ever come back completely to how she was before this last UTI but I do know without that medicine she would have most likely exhausted both her and myself to death with the delirium. Guess what I am trying to say is very elderly with weak immune systems react in many different ways to infections as well as trauma such as surgery. When she had a broken hip repair surgery she also became delirious in much the same way as with the UTI but that cleared in a few days. I think each trauma she now experiences lowers her cognitive level a bit more. She is less able to fight her way back to normal. It's sad but it is a reality we both must face at this stage in her life. I hope you are able to find the right treatment for your own mother. I suspect the UTI knocked her down quite a bit like it did my mom. With weaker immune systems it is harder to bounce back and then the added trauma of surgery makes it even harder.

I am not medical in any way but will say that I was told by doctor (when my mom was hospitalized due to UTI and blood clots almost a year ago) that for every 1 day in the bed it takes 5 days to regain the strength lost. Also with my mom, each procedure performed (under anesthesia) throughout the years seem to cause her mind to get a little weaker - memory issues, etc. Sadly, she has been battling dementia for several years now and the UTI and blood clot about a year ago seemed to send her on a downward spiral. It may take your mom some time, lots of good consistent therapy, some additional testing, possible med changes, etc to get back to being herself or somewhere closer to her old self. Do your best to make sure your mom is getting adequate fluids, eating well, moving about, taking meds consistently and don’t hesitate to keep asking questions to her medical staff until you find out the culprit causing this change. Prayers and Best wishes to you!

Your mother should have a thorough checkup, MINIMUM with regular doc, heart doc and possibly a urologist. Make note of ALL medications she takes. If possible, run all these meds by a pharmacist, including the cipro, even though she may be done with it. She may also need to see a neurologist or someone versed in brain/neuro disorders. Something isn't right.

All too often medications are prescribed, but no one really checks to see what, if any, interactions their might be with other medications, including OTCs. If she has never had cipro before, it could be causing issues. While the majority of people can take the majority of medications, there are cases where meds can't be taken. My mother always said she was allergic to "mycins", and my daughter couldn't take erythromycin (Rxed to treat UTI at 9 months, didn't treat it and she ended up with vomiting even water and a bad case of hives!) While in hospital myself, they were daily injecting heparin (blood thinner) - these became more painful by the day. Hematologist came to my room and said when I came in my platelet count was fine, but has since shot sky high. Ummm, I'm not allowed to eat and anything going into me YOU all are putting it there, figure it out! When I ended up with a hematoma, the damn shots stopped, and magically my platelet count returned to normal! Heparin should NOT increase, but rather decrease platelet count to help prevent blood clots. My dad, after major heart surgery, was to take certain meds forever but adverse reactions led to the docs reducing the dosage until finally he could only take 2 baby aspirin/day.

Although medications or bad med interactions can cause these symptoms, there could be any number of causes and you need to push push push so these docs understand your mom was doing fine and this is a sudden change! ALL sudden changes have a cause and THEY need to find it.

Mom's first UTI at MC (she used to have at least one/year before dementia, sometimes more) resulted in sun-downing. She insisted she had to get out, she had guests coming and had to go home. Hours of this. Unfortunately it was Fri evening, no doc access until Mon! We had to use anti-anxiety along with the antibiotic to keep her calm. AFTER treatment there was no need for the other. No slurring, no trouble articulating (not that it means your mother couldn't exhibit these symptoms.) Subsequent UTIs showed up with night time bed wetting. Most recently she had TIA or mini-stroke. Slumped over, slurred speech, right side weakness. Some resolved quickly (she refused to go to hospital, we didn't push it - she's 97, no real hearing, overweight, dementia, won't stand or walk, mac deg, etc.) but nurse said still slurring a bit and still has the weakness rt side.

Again, given your mom is much younger (guessing), and did so well with surgery, I would push every doc and then some. She isn't doing this to be a pain, and it IS a sign that something is wrong. Medications. Too much or not enough water (yes, too much can wash your system out and cause confusion, etc). UTI (general rule is one should be AT LEAST 3 days past medication before testing, as it can show up negative! Been there done that with my son and his tonsils!) Even if "dip stick" test for UTI is negative, have them do a culture. Stroke or TIA. I'm not in the medical field, so there could be a whole list of other causes for this. PUSH!

Doctors, radiologists, nurses are all human and we ALL make mistakes or miss things. This is NOT who your mother was post-surgery and again, sudden onset of ANYTHING is a warning. If her current docs won't work with you, find better ones! Go to a highly regarded hospital and seek the best docs.

My 83 yo MIL had a stroke that was not detected by CT scan, only found by MRI the next day when her symptoms didn't lessen. Has she had both done? Bless you, I know how difficult this is.

Garlic is a natural treatment and source of prevention of UTIs

Acacia,
Garlic is a good product but if on blood thinners you need to check with the doctor. My mothers neurologist told me he did not want her taking garlic because she is on anticoagulants. My moms naturopath wanted her to take garlic instead of the blood thinners but I checked with doctor first and he said no.

Every time my MIL had a UTI we saw immediate results when she went on the Cipro. Is it possible she had a stroke that wasn't detected by whatever test the hospital did? That's what the effects sound like. You probably need to get her checked by her regular doctor as well as the heart doctor. This does not sound normal for a UTI.

She needs more testing. A resolved UTI resolves the confusion. Something is going on with her. Can't help but wonder if she may have had a clot after the surgery. Perhaps contact that doctor to request more testing.

My grandmother went through valve surgery, did fine and was going to be discharged. The same day, she had a clot that caused death.

Imho, your mother needs a full medical evaluation, including complete blood count panel. Prayers sent.

Bounce back immediately from UTI? Usually, no. Gerontology Drs told me at hospital that for seniors, UTI recovery can take 6 weeks. Sadly, the UTI 'does a number' on them and the meds 'do a number' on them. Also, always check med side effects and interactions with other meds she is taking at same time.

I have had problem UTI infections going on 15 months . usual treatment is 10 days antibiotics then a week off and a new Urine test that shows positive. Repeat ! Finally referred to a urologist. Got an appointment for the earliest being in THREE months! A large hospital with only one urologist. Been to emergency room twice for this. BTW I am 77 years old. Good luck getting your needed help.

My brother had a very bad reaction to cipro for UTI, put him in The hospital because he was acting crazy
that line of antibiotics can have crazy neurological effects, esp depending on other meds. He is on Parkinsons meds.
the type is quinelones? (Spelling) or something like that. There are others in this category as well. Look it up. (Sorry, can’t get to look it up while writing this)
christine

Flouroquinelones